by Casey Lane
“I will never give you a reason. I serve you willingly.”
I nodded, appeased, and we turned towards the wharf. “I want you to direct Stefano to take the Shifter’s goods off first, and then burn the rest, including the ship.”
He stared at me, his eyes wide. “Why?”
Ignoring him, I turned away and marched towards the alley behind the wharf.
As the darkness surrounded me, I took in a deep breath, feeling the roll of mist coming from the bay. I unleashed my strigoi senses and stalked the streets, unseen. As soon as the fire was lit, people spilled from the streets into the bay. The fire was large enough that no amount of water buckets would quell it, though many tried. I didn’t care about them, I was waiting for something else.
As I watched the crowd grow, my strigoi grew restless. I would need to feed soon, but it must wait. When magic first hit the air, I glided through the crowd, sucking the air through my teeth and watching for the Fae.
King Orin himself came, and he stood in front of the crowd. His hands clenched in fists and his face a bright red, he stared at it in fury. He didn’t try to quench the fire. He easily could’ve done it, of course. With one swipe of his hand, all the fire would be extinguished, but he let everything burn.
I grinned, watching as his wide eyes took in the orange and red flames. Behind him stood several of his subjects. Their eyes danced in merriment, though they tried to hide it. He would punish them for my impertinence at burning the ship, and so they took pleasure in his unlucky circumstances.
A man stood off to the side, bucket in hand, disheveled and sweaty from trying to put out the flames. He was so close that his eyes glowed red, a reflection of the fire. It was the same man from before, the one who sang in the streets with his comrade’s arms around him. I now noticed they were just a few feet away from him.
I moved behind him, so close that if he were to move an inch he would touch me, and took in a deep breath. He was lucky. He hadn’t contracted the disease from his seducer from the other night. I softly released my senses over him, pulling him into the darkness so I could feed.
Footsteps sounded behind me as the man writhed under me, clasping me tight. I sent my senses towards the approaching shifter, but felt no malevolence. When I finished eating, I compelled the man quickly and he stumbled away with a smirk on his face.
I swiveled to face the shifter. “I sense you in the darkness. You may approach me, I will not harm you.”
The corner of my lip lifted in revulsion; she was unkempt, and reeked of her fear. She took a small step forward, her eyes staring at the ground which was potholed and filled with muck and piss. “I’m sorry, my Lord, I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
I shrugged. “What do you want?”
She stuttered, and I was impatient for her to get out what she wanted to say. Instead of showing my impatience, I took a small step towards her. She stumbled backwards, but I slowly drew closer to her again and pulled her head up gently with my hand. “I will do you no harm.”
She didn’t look me in the eyes but continued to stare at my chin as she began again. “I’m sorry, my Lord, I came to tell you…” She paused, wringing her hands.
I studied her closely; she didn’t look familiar. “Do you live with the other shifters?”
She shook her head. “I u-used to, but I was cast out.”
“And why is that?”
“I was betrothed to Derek, but he broke off our engagement, and I was rejected in the pack.”
“Who is Derek?” What in hell’s name was this woman trying to tell me?
“He is third in command, and in love with Salina.”
“Dark hair, yellow eyes?” I touched her cheek. “He has a scar on his right cheek?”
She nodded and I grew very still, intent on what she would tell me. “And is that why he broke off his engagement with you?”
She nodded. “He desires to be head of the pack, but is afraid of our second. So he wishes to woo Salina, and become her mate.”
I studied her worn clothing and could tell by her smell that she hadn’t bathed in over a week. “And how serious is he about becoming her mate?”
Suddenly she grew bold, and looked me in the eyes. “Very serious, my Lord.”
“Enough to wish Agosto his final death?”
On this she tittered, “Of that I cannot say. I only know that he would risk manipulating the pack against me, so that he could cast me aside. It takes a great deal to dismiss a member, and he spent a great deal of energy towards it.”
I turned towards the docks, smelling the reek of dead fish and of the animal corpses that littered the bay. “And what motivation have you, in approaching me?” I swiveled back towards her. “For revenge?”
She sneered. “I do wish revenge, my Lord. But I have other matters to care to. My family cannot afford to pay the higher tax, not even for a bit of soap or meat. I wish to help you, so that you can release my family.”
I frowned. “And why would I believe you then? You could lie to invoke pity, so that I would release the tax.”
“I would never dare, sir. It’s true, I implore you for pity. I have a sister, who is not yet four.” Tears sprung from her eyes now. “She is hungry. I came to you, even though I feared your very presence, not for my sake, but for hers.” Her eyes steeled. “And yet, I speak the truth. Derek has a hard heart that he hides from those who would judge him, and only those he has destroyed have seen it. He desires the heart of Salina, so that he may rule over her, and he is willing to do a great deal to achieve it.” She looked away. “I don’t know if he killed your Maker, but I do know that if he had the chance he would take it.”
My mouth opened in astonishment. “And he believes that he could overtake a strigoi?”
She nodded. “He does. Especially if they were dead to the light of day.”
I nodded, considering her, then took her by her arm. She jumped at my touch but I moved her so swiftly up the street that she stumbled to keep up with me.
“Tell me, what is your name?”
“Myla.”
“And are you so desperate that you would do anything to feed your family.”
“I would, sir.”
“Do you still speak to any of the shifters?”
We reached the main street now, and I looked for a horse that could carry her away. “I do have a friend who still speaks to me, she is kind and doesn’t believe the lies that Derek spoke.”
I flagged down a man and put her in the carriage. “I have a need for your services.” I put her inside the back seat. “Are you willing to do a work for me, hmm?”
She nodded, her eyes wide open in fear, but her courage to help her family won over her fear. I put a coin in her hand and folded her fingers over it. “Go to your friend and tell her that you heard a rumor that I will soon come to the shifter household to announce my intentions. Can you do that?”
She nodded, and her shoulders relaxed, confident she could carry out my orders. “There will be another coin if you do as I say. And I will instruct them to reduce the taxes over your family.”
Her eyes grew wide and she threw her arms around me. I stiffened for a moment and then kissed her forehead. After paying the porter, I urged them to rush to their errand, and then they were off.
As soon as I entered my house, my fangs slid out, and my strigoi spilled out as the smell of her blood entered my nostrils. I growled, ready for the hunt. Realizing that that woman was in my home, I pushed it back down. Bloody hell. I just ate. I gripped the handle of the door, trying to determine if I should flee from my own damn home. Why not just kill her and get it over with?
I frowned, even as my eyes darkened. I was not a newly turned strigoi. I was master over my strigoi, and it my servant. I growled and, gripping the wall, I moved towards my workshop. Sophie watched me from the darkness.
“What do you want?”
She folded her arms across her stomach. “You burned the ship.”
I grunted, and continued dow
n the hallway. Suddenly she was next to me, her hand on my elbow. “What’s the matter?”
I gripped her dress and pulled her towards me, breathing heavily. Adelade’s blood sang a song so sweet, I would suffer horribly if I did not taste it. Her heartbeat thrummed in my ears, beat by beat, commanding me to partake.
Sophie stared into my dark eyes. “It’s Adelade.”
I shrugged, and put my head on her shoulder. She held my arms, noting my trembling, then she pulled me to her. My fangs extracted and I breathed in deeply, my arms around her waist. Even with Sophie by my side, the pull to go to Adelade was still stronger. I scraped Sophie’s neck with my incisors, my need driving me to delve into the only woman who could give me peace. But at a high cost.
Gripping my arms tight, she pushed me back, her cheeks flushed. “I will bring one of my thralls.”
I shook my head.
“Lily, then.”
“She won’t be enough.”
“Then we must expel Adelade from the house. You cannot live like this.”
“Where is she? What is she doing?”
“She tried to help with the fire, and returned exhausted; she’s sleeping.”
I groaned and suddenly I was falling into Sophie’s arms. She held me to her as I struggled to control my strigoi. It would be so easy, Adelade would never need know. I could slip in and out, and she could wake in the morning completely unaware that I had only taken a sip. My hands gripped Sophie tighter. But could I only take a sip?
Exerting every ounce of will that I held in my body, I pulled back and cupped Sophie’s cheeks, staring into her eyes. “I will go to my workshop.”
She hesitated, but seeing that my control was greater than my strigoi, she nodded and took a step back. I stumbled, and she made to hold me again but I straightened myself and disappeared into my workshop.
I gripped the worktable, trying to keep my control. I mashed the shavings of wood with my finger, pulverizing them into little pieces of dust. Breathing in the smell of freshly carved wood, I reminded my strigoi that I’d already eaten tonight. A haze moved through the room, and I swiveled towards the door. The Fae Queen sat before me on an ornate throne of carved wood, a crown of thistles on her head. Her long golden locks curved and twisted down her half-naked body, giving me a glimpse of her breasts. It disappeared into her lap, where a sheer skirt woven with palm leaves billowed from her throne.
I grinned. There were other ways I could settle my strigoi.
She stared me down. “You burned everything.”
I stalked towards her. “Your King shouldn’t have provoked me.”
“He only tried to protect what is his.”
“Everything in this city is mine. I can do with it as I please. I only burned what I didn’t want.”
Then she smiled, surprising me, making me consider that the Fae King couldn’t have been that angry. “Come, Detrand. We have too much history to be enemies now.”
Her voice was mesmerizing and it tickled my ear. My whole body relaxed, my blood lust forgotten. Maybe I could keep her here; she could keep me from tearing Adelade’s throat out.
She held her hand to me and I walked towards her in a daze. She smelled of roses, a smell that reminded me of happy days, and my fangs extended.
“Words are whispered in dark corners about you Detrand. I’m curious what is true. And what isn’t.”
I took her hand and bent over it, kissing the top of it lightly. “Dulcina. Your beauty never fails to seduce me.”
She smiled, and the glory in her smile rivaled that of the sun. She turned her hand, and my tongue licked the vein over her wrist in one long lazy stroke.
She stared at me with half-hooded lids and her finger tickled my chin, gesturing me closer. I leaned in and she tilted her head away from me to show me her neck, an invitation. I closed my eyes, allowing my senses to flood through me. Taking off my shirt, I straddled her lap, the core of my body so hot that the touch of her naked chest was a shock of cold. She stared at my chest but I leaned down and gripped the nape of her neck. She groaned as my fangs scraped her skin. The smell of her blood was… intoxicating.
I breathed in and out deeply, reveling in her call and trying to control my strigoi. If I drank her blood, I would always be bound to her. My fangs entered her skin and I paused, allowing my poison to run through her body, and she convulsed under me. My fingers trailed down to her bosom, hardening her nipples into little pebbles. I trailed lower and teased her as she whimpered, her hands clinging to me, pressing me closer and urging me to drink from her.
Then suddenly she exploded under my delicate hands and she opened herself to me. My senses were ready and I thoroughly explored her every desire, her every motive. I paused in shock. She’d gotten involved with Agosto.
She was a greedy bitch, and I withdrew my fangs.
She protested, angry that I hadn’t drunk her blood and she moved me so that she was on top. Then she leaned over me, pressing her perky little breasts into my mouth and I tasted them, groaning, as she tried to seduce me into consuming her. I suckled them and my hands continued to roam her graceful body. She grew tight under my ministrations and she whimpered and groaned, as my hands explored her body. Giving in to her temptation, she tore off my clothes and threw them on the floor and then she was raising and lowering herself over my hardened center. She threw back her head and the vein in her neck pulsed in front of my eyes, begging me to taste her sweet claret. I clasped her tighter, my hands traveling over her bare back as the pressure built inside me, uncertain I could control myself for much longer.
My whole body shook, as my strigoi threatened to overtake me. Then she was inside my head, my defenses weakened, and she knew what I wanted.
She laughed, pulling back and then stood before me, attempting to disappear into the darkness. The slit in her skirt showed her juices leaking down her thighs and I grabbed her and kneeled, giving into the temptation as I parted it and caressed her thighs with my tongue. She stopped and, moaning her pleasure, gripped my head. I looked up, my eyes raked her body and my strigoi growled, unsatisfied. I stood up, yanking her back into the chair and was on top of her, slamming myself into her.
No woman ever abandoned me, until I was satisfied.
She clenched her fists in my hair, moving with me as I gripped her hips, holding on tightly as our sweat-licked bodies slipped over each other. She howled, urging me on; she wanted it as much as I did. So I sat back, pulling on the back of her neck as I moved, my hardened muscles rippling down my stomach as I pounded faster, using my fingers to please her. We both cried out at the same time as we peaked.
And then she gasped and vanished, along with her throne, and I stumbled to the floor. Instead of rising, I stretched out on the floor, feeling the shavings and dust under my naked body. I smiled, knowing that she had allowed herself more than she intended, and that the King would punish her for her indulgence.
My eyebrows furrowed. Somehow she’d involved herself with Agosto; he was never as good as I at controlling his blood lust. Did they exchange blood? I shivered at the thought.
Now she knew my innermost desire, the one thing I wanted above all others, and even I didn’t know what that was. I would never allow her to tempt me again.
But she slipped up. Not only did I know her innermost desires, I knew everything she ever wanted and more. She’d revealed her lust and desire for Agosto, and everything he had. But nothing deadlier than that.
I touched my cheek, realizing that it was bleeding again. I wiped it and dressed, then left the room.
As I entered the sitting room, all eyes turned to me. I could still smell Adelade, but being with the Fae Queen calmed my strigoi somewhat. Besides, I would control it, or she or I would die, and it would probably not be me. I owed it to Bennett to dominate my strigoi.
I sat next to Lula, who looked radiant in her tight-fitting dress even though she smelled of perspiration and the mill next to the docks. Noting the threatening lift of Rowan’s lip, I stared him
down silently. Sighing, he fell back into the settee, almost crashing into Lily who sat at the end of it, her back straight and was breathing heavily. I looked towards Sophie, who was lounging on the chaise across from me, her eyebrows raised.
I smiled. “And how are you tonight?”
The room was silent, unaccustomed to my presence at their fêtes. Sophie ruffled the skirts of her dress, which was a velvet green and complimented her dark green eyes. “I think the question, my dear, is whether your mood is acceptable this evening.” Her comment was light but her eyes held me.
I folded my long legs and I sensed that Lily was taking note of my every movement, so I leaned towards her, just slightly. Her mouth parted.
Contemplating my romp with the Fae Queen, I smiled, showing my teeth in answer to her question. “What a lovely night for a fire.”
The whole room expelled a breath, and the thralls standing behind the settee continued their discourse over the items that must have burned with the ship. Trying her best to ignore me, Lily struck up a conversation with Rowan who was still eyeing me cautiously.
Treveti, a strigoi who worked for several years under Agosto, leaned over to whisper to a young, and delicious, woman named Tasha. Treveti met Tasha when she was a child. Her youthful innocence had enthralled him and he immediately bought her and raised her under his household. I’d tasted her several times, and I must admit I can understand his obsession for her.
His hand traveled down her neck and over to her breast, and then his thumb circled the tip as her hand gripped his thigh. She leaned into him and giggled when his hand traveled lower.
I turned to Lula. “Have you been treated well in your time spent here?”
She looked at Rowan, who stood to fill his glass. “I have, thank you.”
I reached for her chin and turned it so that she was facing me. “I’m curious, have you ever visited the mansion up the bay, the one surrounded by the forest?”
She answered, not willing to look me in the eyes but stared at my chin. She was learning quickly. “I have, once actually, with my Father.”